Moments, Thoughts and Shadows
by The Penultimate Ending
Summary: A music meme inspired by shuffled song lyrics. Each chapter is a thought or moment involving an established relationship between Arthur and Merlin from either POV  in rough order hopefully making some sort of plot. Varying levels of fluff, smut and angst.
1. Opposites Always Attract

Hey guize :D

Long time no speak! (and of course, by 'speak' I mean 'upload', for which I apologise deeply)  
>So in an effort to regain my 'ability' of creative writing, I sat down and promised myself I was going to write <em>something<em>. So here it is.

A music meme.

Not quite what you were expecting? Me neither, but it seemed to work :) if you've never done one before, it's a pretty good way to stuff written :) just stick iTunes on shuffle and either write an extract based on the general mood you get from the song, or the lyrics, or some combination of both. I've taken an extract from the lyrics of each song that played and written a 'chapter' based on that.

So here you go. I've uploaded Chapters 1-5 to get you started, so if you likey, just press that little blue button to review and I'll upload some more! :D

I'll stop rambling now and leave you to the stuff that you actually came here for. V V V (unless you actually came here for my ramble, which means you'll leave now, but I would seriously consider getting a better hobby, my rambles aren't _that _interesting. How about reading and reviewing below instead?) :')

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><p>'And We're Like Noughts and Crosses, in that Opposites Always Attract'<p>

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><p>Merlin reminisced what the Great Dragon had told him when he had first arrived in Camelot, that he and Arthur shared a destiny, that they were two halves of the same whole. Back then, with fledgling attraction fluttering tentatively in his stomach, he had marvelled at the implications of Kilgharrah's words. Did that mean Arthur loved him? That they were destined to be together? Then why did he feel like Arthur hated him so much, why did he feel like a mere servant in the great Crown Prince's presence?<p>

Looking back, Merlin could recall with ease the anguish he had felt, yet the inextinguishable hope, quivering like a young bird in his chest every time he saw Arthur, every time his name slipped from those perfect lips, he hoped. Thank god his hope had not been disappointed. But even now, loving and being loved by Arthur in every way, Merlin could see how opposite they were, truly like two different sides of the same destiny. Merlin knew himself to be mostly subdued, a servant's life in a castle making him so, whereas Arthur, a Prince through and through, could be confident and loud and arrogant if need be, a perfect opposite. Not that tables didn't turn once in a while, when Arthur needed reassuring before making a decision, needed someone to bounce ideas off, needed someone to be _there_, Merlin always was, just as Arthur was there for him. Merlin could calm Arthur's impulsive passions in the same way Arthur could impassion Merlin's serenity with a glance. And even in looks, Merlin was dark-haired with pale skin, his eyes and lips the only emblazoning of colour, a fact Arthur seemed to love, yet Arthur was bright, a blonde-haired angel dressed in the scarlet that corresponded perfectly to his manners, his conduct. Merlin wondered whether if it was this lack of similarities, this sheer oppositeness of character that made them fit together so well, so perfectly.

His last thought before drifting into slumber was that if it was, he hoped with all his heart that it would never change.


	2. I Wasn't Ready, You Took Me By Surprise

So here's 'Chapter' 2!

I'm proud of myself if I've hooked you enough to be reading this :)

Anyway...

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><p>'I wasn't ready, you took me by surprise'<p>

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><p>On the verge of sleep, Arthur lay still, reminiscing about the first time he had met Merlin. He had been such an idiot, a prat, a 'clotpole' as Merlin himself was so fond of saying. But, at the time, he hadn't been able to help it. When he had first seen Merlin's lean figure step somewhat falteringly into the courtyard, he hadn't prepared his heart for the siege of emotions that had stormed it, crushing the feeble barriers he had put up that had stopped him from even <em>liking<em> any of the Ladies and Princesses his father had attempted to arrange for him.

Even now, though Merlin had told him not to feel bad, guilt still plagued him for the terrible way he had treated the man on that first meeting, all of it just the desperate reactions of an arrogant man desperately trying to hide feelings that he had never felt before that he know no one would approve of. That he would be disowned for. But since finding that Merlin returned the love he felt, Arthur had no need to treat his manservant so viciously for fear of rejection, and that made him extraordinarily happy.

He fell asleep smiling.


	3. All I Saw Was A Pretty Blonde

Hello again! (I'm writing 'again' because I've assumed that you've read 'chapters' 1 and 2. If you haven't, I think you probably should!)

Well, third time lucky, hope you enjoy! Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, I have no excuses, but I promise the next one is longer! :D

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><p>'I looked in the mirror last night and all I saw was a pretty blonde'<p>

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><p>Merlin padded softly into Arthur's chambers, preparing silently for the Prince's awakening. Catching sight of Arthur's sleeping face, relaxed and free from all the worries that plagued his waking hours made a smile lift Merlin's lips. For someone outwardly so arrogant, so sure of himself, he wondered how his Arthur, the <em>real<em>Arthur, was so insecure. How could he look in the mirror and see so little? How could he not see the greatest King to ever live, waiting just under his skin? How could he not see the man that Merlin loved with all his heart?


	4. So What's This Big Secret?

Hey reader! (- Implies degree of commitment, this is 'Chapter' 4 now after all!)

Enjoy yourself with Arthur's suspicions! :)

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><p>'So what's this big secret you can't tell me?'<p>

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><p>Arthur would confidently say, should anyone ask, that he was close with Merlin, their disdain be damned, but it hurt him to think that Merlin was hiding something from him. Which he was. The Prince could tell his manservant's mood from the way he stepped, could hear unsaid words in the sound of his breathing, could read his tensions through a squeeze of his hand. And he knew there was something amiss. He couldn't pinpoint exactly <em>how<em>he knew, which part of Merlin gave it away, but he knew beyond a doubt. Arthur would bet the entirety of his beloved Kingdom on the fact the Merlin was hiding _something_from him. Arthur didn't want him to, of course. His Princely upbringing told him that he should drag his servant in here and goddamn _order_him to tell his secret, but the love that was anchored so firmly in his heart implored him to _trust_ Merlin, to trust him enough to know that if it ever became vital or even just important for Arthur to know of the thing Merlin was hiding, his manservant would tell him without question. And it was that trust that kept Arthur quiet when he knew Merlin was shirking duties to go to the library, or that he was late with breakfast because he'd been out in the forest collecting herbs late the night before, because he believed stronger than anything that love and trust came hand in hand.


	5. Forget  The First Impression

Hey there!

Here's your last chapter of the introductory upload! If that (-) made you sad, just review a chapter, or a general reply saying how much you enjoyed/hated any/all of them, or a quick word just so I can acknowledge the existence of readers :D

Enjoy! ^.^

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><p>'On the outside I'm sure you're faking, forget the first time, the first impression'<p>

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><p>Mucking out the stables was one of Merlin's least favourite chores, mostly because he wasn't completely sure it was his job to do it. There were plenty of stable boys milling about the place at various times of day; couldn't one of them do it? As the Crown Prince's manservant, Merlin was just not confident that he should be subjected to this disgusting task. Though, being loyal and true to his duties, if he was asked, he would do it. So he turned his mind to happier things.<p>

He was not surprised in the slightest when his thoughts turned to Arthur for far from the first time today. The Prince made him happier than anyone, anything else and, in the fantasies in his mind at least, no one could take that away from him. Though he remembered the first time he had met Arthur, torturing a servant with knife-throwing in the courtyard. He remembered the words Arthur had said, hurtful, arrogant, cocky. Merlin had hated him in that moment, hated his triumphant smirk, his up-himself attitude, but now that Merlin had seen underneath the bravado, the façade, he understood that all of Arthur's actions on that day had been a ploy to hide his attraction from everyone, Merlin included.

The Arthur that day, much like the Arthur that flirted with noblewomen and believed completely in his father's rulings, was a fake. And Merlin was so glad. He didn't think he would have survived if he'd have fallen in love with such a clotpole if that had been Arthur's true nature. And what's more, he knew that Arthur felt incredibly guilty about treating him like that, so Merlin mostly forgot, at least when Arthur asked, about that first time they met, the first impression he got, to stop the Prince beating himself up as much as he did about it.

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><p>Okay guys, you know what to do now! *pleads for reviews* :D<p> 


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